Argentina pushed England to the limit in London on Sunday. The fixture was the final match of 2025 for both Argentina and England and saw the home side hanging on for a 27-23 victory. The full-time whistle came with the visitors fumbling a lineout after having been hot on attack having put over a dozen phases together to run the ball out of their own 22.
| MATCH REPORT |
England outscored Argentina by three tries to two. The story of the match, however, was that England’s strong early quarter powered the home side out to a dominant position. The first-half concluded with England leading 17-3 and Argentina having failed to capitalize on opportunities.
Los Pumas blew three first-half opportunities for tries. First, A 5 meter attacking lineout saw a free kick awarded to England for the throw not having been straight. Second, Thomas Gallo knocked-on inches from the line. Third, Matías Moroni broke clear but passed the ball into George Ford’s forehead.
England had no such problems with ball management early-on; indeed, George Ford landed an early drop goal before Max Ojomoh and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso both scored for England. Ojomoh’s try came after two Pumas tapped a high ball back. He then turned to be the provider with a cross kick for Welshman Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to score in the right corner.
Argentina’s first score came on 35 minutes. Tomás Albornoz landed a long-range penalty. It was Los Pumas’ one, and only, score of the opening half. The half concluded with England having a disallowed try.
Felipe Contepomi’s team were a different force in the second-half. Early pressure was rewarded with raids from Los Pumas’ forwards deep inside the English 22. Rookie scrum-half Simón Benítez Cruz put in a cut-out pass for rookie center Justo Piccardo who scored.
Tomás Albornoz slotted the conversion and added a penalty on 51 minutes to make it a 17-10 scoreline in favor of England. The next score was also an Argentine penalty, this time Santiago Carreras landed one on 60 minutes.
England regathered to score on 66 minutes. Following a period of pressure, the English centers combined with Henry Slade over to the right of the posts. A George Ford penalty on 72 minutes then put England 27-16 up.
The game was within England’s control. Argentina needed to late tries to change the result. Joaquín Oviedo had a disallowed try on 79 minutes but Los Pumas went over a minute later with Santiago Carreras finding Rodrigo Isgró. Carreras took a quick drop-goal conversion meaning there was still time for a restart.
England kicked long and Argentina were deep in their own 22. After 15 phases, Santiago Carreras broke the line. he passed to Justo Piccardo who was tackled 15 meters inside the English half. After an additional three phases, Argentina won a penalty. Santiago Carreras kicked for the corner. The resulting lineout was fumbled by Franco Molina and England kicked out to secure victory.
| MATCH NOTES |
- Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is the only member of the England 23 that is not homegrown. He is from Wales and qualifies via a grandparent who was born in England.
- Argentina’s 23 players involved in the match are all Argentine born and homegrown.
- All 23 of England’s players playing the English Premiership.
- Argentina fielded 10 players who play in the English Premiership: Simón Benítez Cruz (Newcastle Red Bulls), Santiago Carreras (Bath), Juan Martín González (Saracens), Santiago Grondona, Matías Moroni, and Pedro Rubiolo (Bristol Bears), Pedro Delgado, Rodrigo Isgró, Guido Petti and Boris Wenger (Harlequins).
| SCORING |
ENGLAND
TRY – Max Ojomoh (10′), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (25′), Henry Slade (66′)
CON – George Ford 3/3 (10′, 26′, 67′)
PEN – George Ford 1/2 (72′)
DG – George Ford 1/2 (9′)
YC – A Coles (79′)
ARGENTINA
TRY – Justo Piccardo (45′), Rodrigo Isgro (80′)
CON – Tomas Albornoz 1/1 (46′), Santiago Carreras 1/1 (80′)
PEN – Tomas Albornoz 2/2 (35′, 51′), Santiago Carreras 1/2 (60′)
| LINE-UPS |
ENGLAND
15 Freddie Steward, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Guy Pepper, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Marcus Smith
ARGENTINA
15 Juan Cruz Mallía (vice-capt.), 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Santiago Grondona, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martín González, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Pedro Delgado, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Tomás Rapetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Pablo Matera (vice-capt.), 21 Joaquín Oviedo, 22 Agustín Moyano, 23 Santiago Carreras
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia); Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO): Matteo Liperini (Italy)
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